Furniture caster



T.V PARKINSON FURNITURE v14s TER Filed Sept.v 25 1922 ...E W u lll-l TM.

m o e -B Y7710/021049 Par/mfom Patented Apr. 8, 1924.

UNITED YSTATES PATENToFFleaY THOMAS PARKI'NsoN, oFimoPEKA, KANSAS.

FURNITURE CASTER.

Application filed September 25, 1922. Serial N'o. 590,328.

and I do declare the following to be a full, i clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which 1t appertains to Vmake and use the same, reference being hadto the accom- Y panying drawings, andto the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to furniture casters, and particularly to a novel means for securing the caster pintle in socket in the leg of the article of furniture to which it is to be applied.

The novel construction of the casterfastening `meansy which constitutes my in-Y vention will be clearly understoodby reference to the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings,

in which: A

Fig. 1 is a perspective Vdisassociated view of one end ofa furniture-leg, the fastening jaws, the expander for, the jaws and the caster. v Y

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through a portion of the leg, through the jaws and through the expander, the caster being shown in elevation with the parts being in position to expand'the jaws against the interior wall of the leg.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the jaws in expanded position.

F ig. t is a cross sectional viewvon the line L -f1 of Fig. 2.

5 is a'joross sectional view through a slightly modied form of expander block `with the position modified to conform there-v Fig. 6 is a cross section through a further modification showing the jaws as channelf shaped with a rectangular expander between them, and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view through a wooden leg showing the jaws and caster associated therewith. Y

Referring now to the drawings vby numerals of reference: 1 designates a hollow leg which may be applied to any article of furniture. The leg shown in Fig. 1 is preferably metal and it is adapted to receive a caster 2 having a threaded pintle 3 at the `may be turned in unison. Y

Vbase of which is collar t provided with anopening 5 to receive a pin or Spanner wrench by means of which the collar and pintle The pintle is fastened into the leg by a friction device consisting of two jaws, 6 vand 7, whiclrare hinged together by a hinge 8.

The two jaws are substantially semi-circular in cross section, and they constitute a barret,

shaped guide for the expander block? 9. The concave portions 10 and 11 of thefjaws 6 and 7 are tapered; that is, they aresmaller at the lower ends than at the upper ends f to receive a cone-shapedblockf). Therefore, when the block moves down toward the lower ends'12 and 13 of the 'jaws 6 and 7, the jaws will ybe expanded, and when it is received in the upperportions of theconcavities 10 and 11, the jaws maybe retractedV or thrown together. In order to guide the block Vand prevent its rotative movement with respect tothe jaws, and pins 3, Ik have arranged diainetrically oppositely located ribs or wings 14 and 15 which arereceived between the edges of the awsV 61 and 7. The

lower ends of the jaws 6 and 7 arevprovided with koutstanding lugs or projections- 16 and 17, which may abuty against the lower edge 18v of the leg 1 so that'the jaws will not recede too far within the hollow leg. The j aws' are also provided with grooves 19 and 20 which are for the purpose of making thewalls Vofthe jaws thin so that portions of thev jaws on the opposite sides of theV grooves can flex. The purpose of fiexing theV jaws slightly is to maintain an intimate,

contact betweenl the jaws and the block 9( `When the block9 is inthe deeper parts of the concavities 10 and 11, kthe edges ofthe jaws are right against the wings 14 and 15.

Then the 4*block moves ldown toward the f ends 12 and 13, however, therewould be a tendency for the edges ofthe jaws to move away'from the wings 14: andi15, but by providing the grooves 19y and 2O so thatV the portions of the jaws on the opposite sides of the grooves can flex slightly the intimacy between the wingsand the edges of the jaws v can bemaintained. In other words when the block is near the lower ends of the jaws,

the jaws will move away `to an expanded:

position and instead of the space between them beingcircular, it would have a tendency to be oval, were it not due to the factV that the grooved portions make the jaws turn at those points and allow the edges iii to spread so that the space will be circular irrespective of the position of the block. Therefore the entire outer surfaces of the jaws will abut against the inner wall of the leg when they are expanded. 'By referenceto Fig. 2, it will be observed that the block is relatively high or in the deeper portions of the concavities l() and Ill-that the pintle is screwed in the block and the spanner or other wrench, or a nail for example, may be caused to-engage the opening so that the collar '-lwill be turned. The threaded connection between the pintle 3 and the block 9 will cause theblock to move down toward the end of the leg, expanding the jaws to a position shown in F ig. 3 so that the pintle will be tightly located within the leg. lf it is desired to removethe caster, a reverse movement of the 'collar will cause the expander block to move up in the deep portions 10 and 1l of the aws 6 and 7, so that the aws can be `contracted as shown in Fig. 2 and then the jaws and ypintle can be removed `from the leg.

In Fig. 5 .l have shown a. slightly modified form in which the j aws 2l and 22 have semireotangula-r concavities 23 and 24. They receive a square block 9 corresponding to the expanding block 9.

In Fig. G, the jaws 25 and 2G are vchannelshaped, together enclosing a substantially rectangular space. A. square block 9 similar to the one shown in F ig. 5 is also received by the jaws 25 and 26. l

In Fig. 7 a wooden leg 27 is shown, having a recess 28 to receive the jaws in a manner similar tothe manner above described. The jaws for 'the wooden legs preferably are provided with spurs l29 and 30 to bite into the wood to more securely fasten them thereto. Similar spurs may be shown on jaws for metallic legs but ordinarily these are not necessary. It will be apparent from the foregoing that a pintle 'can be conveniently attached to and removed from a furniture leg with dispatch and convenience, and that when the castel' is fastened in place., it will be tightly held until the jaws are released. The expander block 9 can exert considerable pressure in the opposite direction so as to force the jaws firmly against thc inner wall 1,4ee,54/i

of the inner leg or Vsocket as the case may be to effect a irin Vme'clni-ni'cal Contact which will prevent accidental disassociation of the pintle from the furniture to which it has been attached.

What l claim and Letters Patent is:

l. In combination a caster having a threaded p-intle, outwardly movable f jaw members, hinged at their upper ends between which the pintle is received, the jaw members when in co-operative positionl forming an inverted conical recess and a jaw exdesire to secure by pander in threaded engagement with andmovable longitudinally ofv the jaws to expand them when in one position and to permitthem to contract when Ain another position.

2. In combination a caster having a threaded pintle, two concave outwardly movable jaw members hinged at their upper ends between which the pintle is received, the concavity oi' the jaw members having guide grooves, a. jaw expander in threaded engagement ywith the pintle and wings on' the expander engaging the longitudinal grooves, the inner walls of the j aw members being inclined upwardly and outwardly so that when the expander is moved toward the base of the pint-le thejaws will expand and when the expander is moved away from the base of the pmtlethe jaws may contract,

and wood engaging tines on the exteriors of the jaws. A

In testimony whereof l ahx my signature.

THOMAS PARKINSON. 

